Ken Miller of Miller Painting in Mt. Prospect, IL has been in the painting industry for over 30 years. In the past three years, he has discovered FlowZone sprayers as an effective solution for treating mildew to prepare exterior surfaces for paint jobs.
Before painting fences, concrete, sidewalks and other surfaces, Ken prepares the area by removing debris and killing mold, weeds, mildew, and other growths. This makes for a better surface to paint on and a smoother overall paint job.
However, power washing the surfaces with water only removed growths instead of killing them completely. Power washing can also waste a lot of water, which often comes from the home or business owner's water supply, and can cost hundreds of extra dollars.
“I have known painters to power wash homes with water from the owners well until drawing mud from their well,” Ken said. “After 30 years, we’ve learned how to conserve when doing our jobs and improving the quality with less resources and FlowZone has done that.”
Three years ago, Ken made the switch to FlowZone’s 2.5 gallon backpack sprayer to help clean surfaces before painting. He fills his sprayer with a solution of two parts bleach and one part water, which can penetrate previous coatings or porous brick and kill any growths, as well as spiders and other bugs, or weeds growing around the area. Bleach is the only permanent eliminator of growths, and will keep them away until weather conditions allow them to grow back.
Before spraying, he covers the ground with sheets of plastic to protect the grass and other vegetation from the bleach solution. Then, he uses his FlowZone sprayer with the carbon fiber wand to spray the bleach solution onto whatever surface he is planning to paint. Unlike metal wands, the carbon fiber wand can withstand bleach and won’t degrade over time with the use of chemicals. After a day or two, he rinses the bleach solution off with a hose. Once it is dry, the surface is clean and ready to paint.
Ken easily cleans his FlowZone sprayer by flushing it out with water for three to five minutes after each use. After three years, his sprayer is still good as new, and ready to use for many more years to come.
